Operator of drone that crashed at White House works for US intel agency

Photo of small drone that crashed onto White House grounds (White House handout)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who has acknowledged flying a drone onto the White House grounds works for a U.S. intelligence agency.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency said Tuesday the man, still unidentified, is one of its employees.

The agency says his work has nothing to do with drones and the one he flew in the middle of the night Monday was a personal item, used when he was off duty. But the agency says it takes the matter seriously.

The crash of the small drone prompted a White House lockdown. The Secret Service said its early investigation indicated the man did not intend to cause any harm and did not mean for the drone to go where it did.

The man's employer supplies map-based intelligence to the Pentagon and other national security operations.

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National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency statement on White House drone incident:

January 27, 2015

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - An employee with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was questioned yesterday by the Secret Service as the operator of the drone involved in Monday's incident at the White House.

The employee self-reported the incident Monday. The employee was off duty and is not involved in work related to drones or unmanned aerial vehicles in any capacity at NGA.

Even though the employee was using a personal item while off duty, the agency takes the incident very seriously and remains committed to promoting public trust and transparency.